Richie Havens, the man whose music helped define a generation at the 1969 Woodstock Music & Arts Fair, is dead at age 72.

His family says in a statement that Havens died Monday of a heart attack, according to a report by the Associated Press.

"His fiery, poignant, soulful singing style has remained unique and ageless since his historic appearance at Woodstock in 1969," wrote Havens' management, the Roots Agency. "For four decades, Havens used his music to convey passionate messages of brotherhood and personal freedom."

Havens opened the Woodstock Music & Arts Fair on Aug. 15, 1969, when he created, on the spot, his iconic song "Freedom (Motherless Child)." On the property of Max Yasgur, as the growing crowd made festival coordinators antsy to start the planned three-day festival, and as artists were finding difficulty reaching Bethel because of traffic problems across the Catskills, Havens launched into a two-hour performance that set the optimistic tone of the legendary festival.

The performance also helped solidify Havens as a voice of his generation, a voice for peace and unity.

"We are all saddened to hear of Richie Havens' passing. He was a gentle man, a poet, a powerful performer, and a man of conviction," read a statement from Bethel Woods Center for the Arts. "His stunning performance that opened the Woodstock festival will always be remembered - for its powerful energy and its message. Composing his song 'Freedom' as he performed it, Richie Havens created a song for the ages and a rally cry for a generation."

Havens played that very property, now Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, multiple times over the course of his life, famously playing to kick off the 40-year anniversary of the festival in 2009.

He also was seen regularly at Opus 40, the man-made rock-and-sculpture garden in Saugerties. Havens performed there three times, echoing the venue's spiritual aura with his dulcet tones.

"When we first realized that we could do concerts here at Opus 40 and attract major, national talent, Richie was the first person to perform here. It was probably around 1981," Richards continued. "I went down to the city with a slideshow so he could see the kind of place and what we were asking of him. When I was done, he looked at me and said 'I'll play there anytime you want me to.' And he did. And it was for very little money. He was a very special person. You had a sense from him that he was a really good person."

The organization Clearwater posted on its Great Hudson River Revival Facebook page that "Richie was a true musical icon with one of most recognizable voices in popular music, and a friend of Clearwater. He will be missed dearly."

Deborah Medenbach and the Associated Press contributed to this report.